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Maria BottacloseAuthor: Maria BottaName: Maria BottaSite:http://www.mariabotta.comAbout: After a successful career as a Producer, Maria decided to go back to school to achieve one of her long held dreams - an MBA in Global Management. She attended Thunderbird School of Global Management in the Geneva, Switzerland program.

Maria inherited her intellectual curiosity and sense of adventure from her Cuban parents. Growing up, her family lived abroad and traveled the world - by the twelfth grade, Maria had been to 9 schools in 3 different countries, and studied in English, Spanish and French - never missing a beat ...... although living abroad in those days meant missing some ”important” American pop-culture.

Once Maria completed a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College, she began her career at a local TV affiliate in Miami, within a year, she left to New York to seek fame and fortune on Madison Avenue. Maria worked on the Account side and briefly on the client side. After returning to Miami, she worked at Telemundo Network, and established a Department that managed all of the client sponsored content. After the shows where canceled, Maria packed her bags and was off to shoot a short film in Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. The short was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several Awards.

Maria hasproduced hundreds of commercials for US companies and global clients. This has taken her to locations throughout the world. Maria has also produced for TV, corporate videos, short films, documentaries, online content and worked on several feature film projects. Her forte has been in managing global teams and logistically challenging projects - always coming up with creative and sometimes unorthodox solutions to challenges.

Other career highlights include; working as the Senior Producer on the Army’s US Hispanic initiatives for 3 years, Executive Producer for the launch team of Nickelodeon Latin America, and the launch team for SKY Latin America. As an entrepreneur, she has founded 2 companies, most recently LA based Reel Reps, a marketing and sales company specializing in B2B. Under her leadership, she grew the client base and sales in one year, exceeding projections by over 40%.

Maria believes that the old paradigms in advertising and communication are evolving, and that new business models are being shaped, advertising is moving into a new space where the convergence of advertising and entertainment meet. In order to succeed in this new order, businesses must take advantage of global resources and talent, and have a global mindset. Maria is excited about the next chapter in her career, her professional experience, relationships and education make her uniquely poised to take advantage of the new business environment.See Authors Posts (20)Topics: Business,Education,Leadership,Mentors & Motivators,Technology

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March is Women’s History Month, the theme is empowerment through education. As I started to consider what I knew about the role of women leaders throughout history, I decided to come up with a list of 75 inspirational female leaders through time, some of these are for fun others are truly admirable women …. Some I knew of, others I got to know while researching this list – ALL are fascinating and brave who have contributed to our history.

Please share this list with your friends, sisters and daughters – and come up with one of your own, the more we know about women, the more we are empowered with “her-story”.

The women in my family who emigrated from Cuba with nothing, and managed our family in exile

Maria BottacloseAuthor: Maria BottaName: Maria BottaSite:http://www.mariabotta.comAbout: After a successful career as a Producer, Maria decided to go back to school to achieve one of her long held dreams - an MBA in Global Management. She attended Thunderbird School of Global Management in the Geneva, Switzerland program.

Maria inherited her intellectual curiosity and sense of adventure from her Cuban parents. Growing up, her family lived abroad and traveled the world - by the twelfth grade, Maria had been to 9 schools in 3 different countries, and studied in English, Spanish and French - never missing a beat ...... although living abroad in those days meant missing some ”important” American pop-culture.

Once Maria completed a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College, she began her career at a local TV affiliate in Miami, within a year, she left to New York to seek fame and fortune on Madison Avenue. Maria worked on the Account side and briefly on the client side. After returning to Miami, she worked at Telemundo Network, and established a Department that managed all of the client sponsored content. After the shows where canceled, Maria packed her bags and was off to shoot a short film in Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. The short was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several Awards.

Maria hasproduced hundreds of commercials for US companies and global clients. This has taken her to locations throughout the world. Maria has also produced for TV, corporate videos, short films, documentaries, online content and worked on several feature film projects. Her forte has been in managing global teams and logistically challenging projects - always coming up with creative and sometimes unorthodox solutions to challenges.

Other career highlights include; working as the Senior Producer on the Army’s US Hispanic initiatives for 3 years, Executive Producer for the launch team of Nickelodeon Latin America, and the launch team for SKY Latin America. As an entrepreneur, she has founded 2 companies, most recently LA based Reel Reps, a marketing and sales company specializing in B2B. Under her leadership, she grew the client base and sales in one year, exceeding projections by over 40%.

Maria believes that the old paradigms in advertising and communication are evolving, and that new business models are being shaped, advertising is moving into a new space where the convergence of advertising and entertainment meet. In order to succeed in this new order, businesses must take advantage of global resources and talent, and have a global mindset. Maria is excited about the next chapter in her career, her professional experience, relationships and education make her uniquely poised to take advantage of the new business environment.See Authors Posts (20)Topics: Business,Career,Leadership,Social Media,Technology,Women in Technology

Last week during a conversation with a potential client, I was asked what aspect of my business I enjoyed the most – I didn’t hesitate a second and answered – COLLABORATION! Working together, as a team with the best people, who are subject matter experts in their fields can make for amazing, and sometimes unexpected results – and I find that fascinating and exhilarating. No doubt this has been an important part of my life, even during my EMBA program at Thunderbird, one of our mantras was “collaborate so you can graduate”.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL HIERARCHY AND COLLABORATIVE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS

In my business, ideas evolve and grow in COLLABORATION with our peers and subordinates – I have often worked with teams spread all over the globe, and the dynamic of collaboration can be real “magic” when everyone takes pride of ownership and responsibility. Being open to all ideas, and understanding that the next great one could come from a customer or a subordinate is really empowering. Unlike popular belief, however, working collaboratively doesn’t mean always playing nice and signing the same tune, it isn’t like group therapy – yeah, sometimes thing get messy when egos get in the way – this is when a strong and nurturing leader needs to step in and wrangle the cats errr… I mean team …

When I work with teams, our communication is open – unhindered by formality and “structure”. The point of this is to create an environment of mutual respect, where the interaction of diverse perspectives leads to an exchange of ideas leading to an an effective solution. This doesn’t mean that it is a “free for all”, there is always a clear leader, but the input of each member is valued equally. The leadership skills needed in a collaborative business environments are very different, somewhere between a kindergarten teacher and Margaret Thatcher, the goal is to guide the flow, and get the BEST out of each team member.

The distinct difference between collaborative groups and formal groups, is that collaborative groups function on the basis of shared power and management among peers, rather than an absolute directive from the top – think of it as managing horizontally rather than vertically.

And thanks to the world of online communication COLLABORATION has grown even more in certain industries – writers often work in a team with an Art Director, Animators with Producers, business strategist with writers, Engineers with art directors, Directors with Producers and clients…. not all located in the same place but technology makes it possible to do work smoothly in COLLABORATION.

To me, working COLLABORATIVELY is the only way to get the best ideas and results – collaborate to innovate – but this is NOT the way most business work today, and I wonder WHY?

The practice of COLLABORATION, which is so common for some businesses hasn’t gone mainstream, most traditional businesses never get “it”, and still allow their executives to engage in more territorial and competitive practices – these often lead to what I call sandbox “turf wars”…… unlike COLLABORATIVE leaders who share control and give credit for ideas, and who facilitate the process of problem solving through diplomacy – refer to my previous comment about Thatcher. COLLABORATION is not common, but what if it where?

Some companies like Mozilla, Linux, eBay, Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Amazon, are structured around collaboration and team leadership that really works, so what makes for this difference in leadership?

TOP QUALITIES OF A COLLABORATIVE LEADER

Maria BottacloseAuthor: Maria BottaName: Maria BottaSite:http://www.mariabotta.comAbout: After a successful career as a Producer, Maria decided to go back to school to achieve one of her long held dreams - an MBA in Global Management. She attended Thunderbird School of Global Management in the Geneva, Switzerland program.

Maria inherited her intellectual curiosity and sense of adventure from her Cuban parents. Growing up, her family lived abroad and traveled the world - by the twelfth grade, Maria had been to 9 schools in 3 different countries, and studied in English, Spanish and French - never missing a beat ...... although living abroad in those days meant missing some ”important” American pop-culture.

Once Maria completed a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College, she began her career at a local TV affiliate in Miami, within a year, she left to New York to seek fame and fortune on Madison Avenue. Maria worked on the Account side and briefly on the client side. After returning to Miami, she worked at Telemundo Network, and established a Department that managed all of the client sponsored content. After the shows where canceled, Maria packed her bags and was off to shoot a short film in Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. The short was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several Awards.

Maria hasproduced hundreds of commercials for US companies and global clients. This has taken her to locations throughout the world. Maria has also produced for TV, corporate videos, short films, documentaries, online content and worked on several feature film projects. Her forte has been in managing global teams and logistically challenging projects - always coming up with creative and sometimes unorthodox solutions to challenges.

Other career highlights include; working as the Senior Producer on the Army’s US Hispanic initiatives for 3 years, Executive Producer for the launch team of Nickelodeon Latin America, and the launch team for SKY Latin America. As an entrepreneur, she has founded 2 companies, most recently LA based Reel Reps, a marketing and sales company specializing in B2B. Under her leadership, she grew the client base and sales in one year, exceeding projections by over 40%.

Maria believes that the old paradigms in advertising and communication are evolving, and that new business models are being shaped, advertising is moving into a new space where the convergence of advertising and entertainment meet. In order to succeed in this new order, businesses must take advantage of global resources and talent, and have a global mindset. Maria is excited about the next chapter in her career, her professional experience, relationships and education make her uniquely poised to take advantage of the new business environment.See Authors Posts (20)Topics: Business,Career,Leadership,Marketing,Technology,Work-Life Balance

I work in a creative business – the business of creativity to be exact, and I see how difficult it is for some business people and academics to understand HOW a creative approach can help a business grow. But in today’s business environment, I can’t imagine a thriving business that is not looking at their business in a creative way.

The subject of creativity in business has been on the forefront lately, discussed in business blogs and articles in serous publications. There is no question that the term “CREATIVE” is getting some major traction, according to LinkedIn (based on 135 million professional profiles in several languages), in 2011 “CREATIVE” was the most overused buzz word on user profiles in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, UK. But what the heck does it REALLY mean in business ?

What does creativity mean in business?

Does this mean that executives should immerse themselves in afternoons of finger painting in order to find their inner creative mojo? (I am sure this wouldn’t hurt in the least). For the most part business people have been indoctrinated to draw inside the lines, and to ask them to reverse this way of doing things is quite radical, so how can you change this?.

In one of my favorite business books, Daniel H. Pink’s A Whole New Mind , Pink suggests, that the era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities-inventiveness, empathy, and meaning-predominate. But how do we make this change that Pink describes? How do we transition from the predominance of the left brain into the right brain?

Maria BottacloseAuthor: Maria BottaName: Maria BottaSite:http://www.mariabotta.comAbout: After a successful career as a Producer, Maria decided to go back to school to achieve one of her long held dreams - an MBA in Global Management. She attended Thunderbird School of Global Management in the Geneva, Switzerland program.

Maria inherited her intellectual curiosity and sense of adventure from her Cuban parents. Growing up, her family lived abroad and traveled the world - by the twelfth grade, Maria had been to 9 schools in 3 different countries, and studied in English, Spanish and French - never missing a beat ...... although living abroad in those days meant missing some ”important” American pop-culture.

Once Maria completed a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College, she began her career at a local TV affiliate in Miami, within a year, she left to New York to seek fame and fortune on Madison Avenue. Maria worked on the Account side and briefly on the client side. After returning to Miami, she worked at Telemundo Network, and established a Department that managed all of the client sponsored content. After the shows where canceled, Maria packed her bags and was off to shoot a short film in Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. The short was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several Awards.

Maria hasproduced hundreds of commercials for US companies and global clients. This has taken her to locations throughout the world. Maria has also produced for TV, corporate videos, short films, documentaries, online content and worked on several feature film projects. Her forte has been in managing global teams and logistically challenging projects - always coming up with creative and sometimes unorthodox solutions to challenges.

Other career highlights include; working as the Senior Producer on the Army’s US Hispanic initiatives for 3 years, Executive Producer for the launch team of Nickelodeon Latin America, and the launch team for SKY Latin America. As an entrepreneur, she has founded 2 companies, most recently LA based Reel Reps, a marketing and sales company specializing in B2B. Under her leadership, she grew the client base and sales in one year, exceeding projections by over 40%.

Maria believes that the old paradigms in advertising and communication are evolving, and that new business models are being shaped, advertising is moving into a new space where the convergence of advertising and entertainment meet. In order to succeed in this new order, businesses must take advantage of global resources and talent, and have a global mindset. Maria is excited about the next chapter in her career, her professional experience, relationships and education make her uniquely poised to take advantage of the new business environment.See Authors Posts (20)Topics: Blogs,Business,Career,Leadership,Technology,Work-Life Balance

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. ~ Jane Austen

Money doesn’t buy happiness – or maybe it does ???

This is a question that has been on my mind, because I have noticed a widening chasm between the happiness of the “haves, and those that have less”. People who are comfortable financially and are financially stable seem to be MUCH happier than those who are not, they seem unscathed from the stress of these difficult times. Is their money like an invisible shield that keeps unhappiness at bay?

As the middle class dwindles, and the overall happiness rating in the US drops, I wonder if happiness will be reserved for the 1% of our country OR will we be challenged as a society to redefine happiness?

There is no doubt that across the board a desire to be happy is prevalent in not just the US, but in our Western culture, and a happy life is very much the preferred life. People who are considered successful, have influence, economic power, stability and tend to be happy.

In a study conducted in Britain, by the Institute of Economic Affairs called “The Pursuit of Happiness”, determined a direct correlation between happiness levels and the amount of wealth a person has accumulated. The study goes as far as to say that CASH can make us happy – and that CASH, is the most important factor in a person’s happiness.

Another study conducted at Princeton, goes as far as to claim that the threshold in the US for happiness is a $75,000 household income (even in high-cost cities), the study analyzed information gathered from 450,000 responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (GHWBI).

Money is human happiness in the abstract; he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes himself utterly to money. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

The big question is – Does happiness lead to success or does success lead to happiness?

Maria BottacloseAuthor: Maria BottaName: Maria BottaSite:http://www.mariabotta.comAbout: After a successful career as a Producer, Maria decided to go back to school to achieve one of her long held dreams - an MBA in Global Management. She attended Thunderbird School of Global Management in the Geneva, Switzerland program.

Maria inherited her intellectual curiosity and sense of adventure from her Cuban parents. Growing up, her family lived abroad and traveled the world - by the twelfth grade, Maria had been to 9 schools in 3 different countries, and studied in English, Spanish and French - never missing a beat ...... although living abroad in those days meant missing some ”important” American pop-culture.

Once Maria completed a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College, she began her career at a local TV affiliate in Miami, within a year, she left to New York to seek fame and fortune on Madison Avenue. Maria worked on the Account side and briefly on the client side. After returning to Miami, she worked at Telemundo Network, and established a Department that managed all of the client sponsored content. After the shows where canceled, Maria packed her bags and was off to shoot a short film in Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. The short was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several Awards.

Maria hasproduced hundreds of commercials for US companies and global clients. This has taken her to locations throughout the world. Maria has also produced for TV, corporate videos, short films, documentaries, online content and worked on several feature film projects. Her forte has been in managing global teams and logistically challenging projects - always coming up with creative and sometimes unorthodox solutions to challenges.

Other career highlights include; working as the Senior Producer on the Army’s US Hispanic initiatives for 3 years, Executive Producer for the launch team of Nickelodeon Latin America, and the launch team for SKY Latin America. As an entrepreneur, she has founded 2 companies, most recently LA based Reel Reps, a marketing and sales company specializing in B2B. Under her leadership, she grew the client base and sales in one year, exceeding projections by over 40%.

Maria believes that the old paradigms in advertising and communication are evolving, and that new business models are being shaped, advertising is moving into a new space where the convergence of advertising and entertainment meet. In order to succeed in this new order, businesses must take advantage of global resources and talent, and have a global mindset. Maria is excited about the next chapter in her career, her professional experience, relationships and education make her uniquely poised to take advantage of the new business environment.See Authors Posts (20)Topics: Blogs,Business,Design,Education,Events,Marketing,Social Media,Technology,Women in Technology

In that weird time between Christmas and the start of the next year, I love reviewing the year. My 2011 has been quite remarkable, I accomplished many goals and ticked off a few things on my bucket list, including graduating from Thunderbird in Europe, attending Sundance, visiting India and Germany – and overall, just had a wonderful time of travel, friends, and family throughout.

Now it’s time to read the Top and Best of lists for the year, and as 2011 winds to an end, and we start to get a peek at 2012, it’s time to review what 2011 brought us…. and some of the lists it has spawned.

Here is a list of some of the Best Of lists of 2011 that I have found… I would LOVE to hear some of yours!